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Information on combing ability is important for effective breeding strategies in a cross pollinated crop like maize. Twenty nine inbred lines were derived from national yellow pool based on their performance in their S4 generation. Twenty nine lines, three testers and their 87 hybrids from a line x tester design were evaluated for grain yield and its components. The SCA variance was higher than GCA variance for all the characters indicating the predominance of non-additive gene action. Line x tester interaction variance was found significant for all the traits except ear length, ear circumference, shelling percentage and fodder yield. The line YP4#07-20 was the best general combiner and the cross YP4#07-20 X CI-5 was identified as good specific combiner.